Lawyers acting for the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, Vasily Yakemenko, have appealed against the decision of the Khamovniki district court in Moscow to dismiss his defamation suit against journalists Oleg Kashin and Aleksandr Morozov and the newspaper Novye izvestiya.

Agora Human Rights Association, representing Oleg Kashin and Aleksandr Morozov, reports that the website of the Kamovniki district court in Moscow has published information (in the section “Appeals against judgments, decisions”) that on 22 June S. Mikulaeva petitioned Moscow City Court to hear an appeal in the case of Yakemenko v Kashin.

Earlier the legal representative of Vasily Yakemenko, Sergei Zhorin, had told Oleg Kashin he would no longer be representing the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. “I took the decision some time ago that this would be my last case as lawyer for Yakemenko”, the lawyer Zhorin said. He stressed that this decision was not connected to Kashin’s case.

Earlier the press secretary of the Nashi movement, Kristina Potupchik, wrote in her blog: “The court’s judgment in the suit of Vasily Yakemenko against Oleg Kashin does not satisfy our side. Therefore, naturally, we shall appeal against it. We shall seek to have the decision annulled and to have a fresh consideration of the case.” A similar announcement was made by the press service of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. Vasily Yakemenko himself confirmed: “We have only been through the court of first instance, and in the near future a suit will be submitted to Moscow City Court. I shall continue this and other legal suits.”

Meanwhile, Pavel Chikov PhD, chair of the Agora Human Rights Association, has said: “If Moscow City Court upholds the ruling at first instance, it won’t be worth Vasily going to court in the capital any more. So, we’re waiting for the appeal hearing! What’s more, we have a couple of trump cards yet to play.”

The screenshot from the website of the Khamovniki district court in Moscow can be seen on the website of the Open Information Agency in the section “Documents – Media Cases” here.